Stephen King Hints at Potential Plans for ‘11.22.63’ Sequel

Equal parts electrifying and enigmatic (what baffling performance of James Franco’s isn’t?), Hulu’s take on Stephen King’s time-travel thriller 11.22.63 completed the basic spine of the author’s novel, centered around the assassination of JFK. That said, the limited series’ breakout success wasn’t lost on Hulu or King, who revealed some surprising ideas for a sequel.

Take this with a grain of salt for now, as King has yet to pen any kind of follow-up to 11.22.63 (not that Hulu would necessarily need one to pursue a second season), though the prolific author addressed the subject in a Facebook Q&A on the show’s page. Understandably, the focus on saving JFK would remain a one-and-done story, though King has at least given though to exploring Jake Epping (Franco) as a guardian of sorts to the “rabbit hole” portal:

I’d love to revisit Jake and Sadie, and also revisit the rabbit hole that dumps people into the past, but sometimes it’s best not to go back for a second helping. If I were to write a sequel, it would be about Jake trying to stop unscrupulous people from using the rabbit hole to change the past in some terrible way.

King also expounded on the nature of the mysterious time portal:

I thought the rabbit hole (or the wormhole, as you call it) was a cosmic mistake, a basic flaw in the universe. Because of all the potential paradoxes, time travel would be incredibly dangerous—enough to to make nuclear bombs look like toys in comparison.

For those unaware, Hulu’s 11.22.63 follows high school English teacher Jake Epping as he travels back in time to prevent the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, only to find his mission is threatened by Lee Harvey Oswald, falling in love, and a past that doesn’t want to be changed. All episodes streaming on Hulu, the series also stars Chris Cooper, Josh Duhamel, T.R. Knight, Cherry Jones, Sarah Gadon, Lucy Fry, George MacKay and Daniel Webber.

It’s certainly not beyond the realm of possibility for Hulu to pursue an additional season (James Franco would be another matter), but does 11.22.63 work best as a one-and-done tale? How should the story proceed, should King ever get around to writing more?